Elevator-door-operating device



Feb. 23,1926. 1 1,574,217

H. c. WALDMAN ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATING DEVI CE Filed March 31, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR TTORNE Y5 .Feb. 23 1926.

H. C. WALDMAN ELEVATOR noon OPERATING DEVICE Filed'March 31, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I/VI/E/VTOB l arman 6: Wa/a mzm.

flrrog/vmi Patented Feta. 23, 192% HERMAN C. WALDMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ELEVATOR-DOOR-OPERATING DEVICE.

Application filed March a1, 1922. Serial No. 629120,

To aZZ coho/Ii it may coaccwi:

lie it known that I, I'IERMAN C. VVALDMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain now and useful ln'iprovement in Elevaton Door(}perating Devices, of which the following a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to mechanisms of the kind that are used for operating the doors, safety gates or other closures of elevator shafts. a i

The main object of my invention is to provide a mechanism of novel construction for operating the doors or safety gates of an elevator-shaft that is inexpensive to build and install and inexpensive to operate.

Jther objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

As my improved mechanism is adapted for use with a y type or kind of elevator shaft door, safety gate or other closure, 1 have heroin used the term door to include all kinds of devices for protecting the openingsleading from an elevator shaft to the floors of a building up through which the shaft extends. My mechanism is particularly adapted for use,}however, with fire doors for freight elevator shafts, and accordingly, I have herein illustrated it used for this particular purpose. In its simplest form my improved door operating mechanism consists of a device mounted on an elevator car or cage in such a way that it can be engaged with the door at the level or floor of the building at which the car 'is standing, and means for imparting movement to said device so as to effect a change in the position of the door. The device is adapted to be used for operating all of the doors at the various levels past which the on r travels, and it can be constructed in such a way that it will open and close the doors or will simply move the doors into one position, in which event the return movement of the doors will be effected by gravity, weights, springs or the like. A manually-operable means is pref= erably used for moving thedoor operating device into engagement with the door whose position is to be changed, and an electrically-operated means is used for thereafter imparting movement to said device so as to eflect a change in the position of the door. It is preferable to equip the Gl W Ql' car with manually-operable switches and automatically-operated switches arranged in such a way that the opening or closing of the door and the condition of said electrically: operated means can beac'curately controlled.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a' side elevationalview illustrating a portion of anelevator car equipped with a door operating mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the door operating); device on the car disengaged from the door.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of a portion of the elevator car, showing one of the door operating devices and the housing or guideway in which it is slidingly mounted.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the switch in the pent house that causes the operating means for the elevator car to be maintained in an inoperative condition. when any one of the doors of the elevator shaft is in its open. position; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a portion of the elevator car, partly in section, taken on the section line designated 4t in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates an elevator shaft, B designates .a door opening in said shaft that is normally closed by a door, herein illustrator. counterbalanced fire door, composed of a top section C and a bottom section C that move upwardlyand downwardly, respectively, to open the door and downwardly and upwardly, respectively, to close the door, and'D designates the elevator car or cage that travels vertically in said shaft past-the doors located at the various floors of the building. The'elevator car is equipped with one or more door operating devices E mounted in such a way that they can be moved into and out of engagement with the door at the floor at which the car is standing, and a means for moving the device or devices E in a direction to effect a change in the position of the door. Two door operating devices E are preferably arranged at the front of the elevator car adjacent the opposite sides "of same, and an electricallyoperated means is used for moving said de vices E to change the position 'ofthe door. in the form of my invention herein illustrated the devices E are constructed in such a way that they can be moved into engagement with parts F- on the top section C of the door arran ed-adjacent theopposite tie pins 1.

ends of same, as shown in Figure 4, and the electrically-operated means is so constructed that it will move said devices E upwardly so as to raise the top section C of the door and lower the bottom section C.

The door operating devices E are moved into and out of engagement with the door by a manually-operable means comprising vertically-disposed housings G in which the devices E slide vertically, levers H that carry said housings, and ve-rtically-disposed links or rods I that connect said levers to a rocl: shaft J on the underside of the floor of the car Dthatis equipped with a foot treadle K which is adapted to be depressed so as to rock the levers H in a direction to more the housings G forwardly or towards the elevator door, so as to cause the devices E in said housings to engage the parts F on the door, When the treadle K is released the shaft J rocks in the opposite direction back to normal position, thereby causing the links or rods I to move the levcrs H in a direction to retract the housings G, and thus cause the devices E in said housings to be disengaged from the door. In order to insure the door operating devices E in the housings G remaining in vertical alignn'ient with the parts F on the door, each of the housings G is provided at its rear side with two: lugs 1 that proiectthrough vertically-(iisposed slotsin one flange of an angle-shaped upright or support L on the elevator car D that carries the levers i that are used for moving said housing towaros and away from the door. The uprights L are provided with brackets 2 on which the levers H are pivotally mounted and thc'lugs 1 on the housings G are bifurcatea'l, as shown in Figure 4, so as to' receive the front ends of the levers H. which are pivotally connected to said lugs by pin- If desired, the lugs 1. can be provided with upwardly-projecting stops 3 that strike against the portions of the up rights L through which said lugs project so as to limit the forward movement of the housings G. The housings G can be mount J an arranged with itsopen side prescnt-el'l t ards the door, and the door operating devices J] are guided vertically in said housing by lateral projections at on said devices that are positioned in vert ically-disposed slots 5 in the side portions of the housings (if. in ord'erto ovels Ollle thi llfiCessi'ty of various other ways without depart-- is substantially channel-shaped in cross sec- 7 having the floor of the elevator car arranged in absolutely horizontal alignment with the sill of the door opening, during the operation of opening the door, each of the devices E is provided with a plurality of forwardly-projecting tongues or horizontal ribs 6 arranged one above the other, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the parts F on the door are so constructed that they will cooperate with any of said tongues or ribs Thus, it the floor of the elevator car stands slightly above the sill or below the sill of the door opening, when the car comes to rest, one or the other of the tongues or horizontal ribs 6 on the devices E will engage the parts F on the door when the lovers H are actuated to move the housings G forwardly towards the door.

the means herein illustrated for reciprocating the door operating devices E in the housings G consists of a horizontal shaft M arranged transversely of the elevator car D in shaft bearings 6 on the top portion of said car, pulleys 7 on said shaft, chains, cables or other suitable flexible devices 8 connected to the pulleys 7 and to the door operating devices E and an electric motor N for operating the shaft M. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the motor N is mounted on the upper portion of the elevator car I) and the armature of said motor is connected to a horizontal shaft 9 provided with a traction pulley 10 that is connected by an endless belt or cable 11 to a traction pulley 12 on the shaft M. 'hen the ll'lOtOY-ClllVQll shaft 9 revolves in one direction the belt 11 causes the shaft M, to turn in a direction to cause the flexible members 8 to be wound onto the pulleys 7, thereby causing the door operating devices E to move upwardly, and when said motordriven shaft 9 revolves in the opposite direction, the shaft M will turn in a direction to permit the flexible devices 8 to unwind from the pulleys 7, and thus permit the door operating devices E to move down- Tardly. The devices E are preferably constructed in the form of weights so as to assist in the operation of closing the door, and the pulleys 'i' are prefer-ably arranged eccentrically on the shaf M in such a way that the top and bottom sections of the door will moveslowly when they start to separate, will move rapidly as they become further separated, and will slow down as they reach their fully open position. I prefer to use an endless belt and cable or pulleys of the traction type to transmit movement from the motor N to the shaft M. for in such a structure the driving'belt 11 will slip on thevpul'leys 10 and 12 and thus prevent injury to the moving parts in the event the motor is not stopped when the doorreaches its fully open position or its tally-cl p ition,

In order to lock the actuating means for the door operating devices E, after said devices have been moved upwardly to open the door, the motor-driven drive shaft 9 is provided with a disk 13 that co-operates with a brake band 14 which is combined with a solenoid 15 in such a way that when said solenoid is energized said brake band will snugly en'ibrace the disk 13 and thus hold the shaft 9 at rest, and when said solenoid is (lo-energized the brake band 14: will be rendered inoperative, thus releasing the drive shaft 9. a

Any suitable means can be provided for controlling the electrically-operated means that actuates the door operating devices E. I prefer, however, to equip the elevator car I) with an electric switch 0 arranged in such a position that it will be operated by the foot treadle K when said foot treadlc is de pressed to move the devices E into engagement with the door, thereby causing the motor N to auton'iatically start after the devices E have been engaged with the parts F on the door. lVhen the devices E reach their upper limit of movement one of said devices engages a switch P which opens the motor circuit and also closes the circuit in which the solenoid 15 is arranged, thereby causin the motor to stop automatically and causing the solenoid 15 to operate the brake band 14-, so as to lock the drive shaft 9. When it is desired to close the door the oper' ator actuates a switch It so as to render the solenoid 15 inoperative, thus releasing the shaft 9 and permitting said shaft and also the. shaft M to turn rearwardly under the inutluence of the door operating devices E, which, as previously stated, are constructed in the form of weights. lVhen the mechanism is constructed in this manner gravity causes the devices E to move the door into its closed position, but it is obvious that the switch It can be of such a character that when said switch is rendered operative it will de-energize the solenoid 15 and also cause the motor N to revolve in anti-clockwise direction, thus causing the shaft M to be driven rearwardly so as to lower the door operating devices E and the door with which they are engaged. If it is desired to arrest the door in its partly open position, the op erator actuates a switch S arranged in such a way that it will open the motor circuit and also close the solenoid circuit. Vi hen the door reaches its fully closed position, one of the door operating devices E or housing Gin which it is arranged actuates a tripping device '1 in such a way as to impart movement to a lever 16 whose free end strikes against a collar 17 on one of the rods I of the means that is used for moving the door operating devices E into and out of engagement with the door, thereby causing the foot trea l e K o be restored to its normal el actuated by the lever 16, thus causing the motor to stop when the tripping device T is moved downwardly by the door operating device E or housing G with which said tripping device co-operates. Accordingly, when the motor N is used to move the door operating devices E upwardly to open the door and downwardly to close the door, the'motor circuit will be opened automatically when the door reaches its fully raised position, and said motor circuit will be opened automatically when the door reaches its closed position, the switches O and it being used to close the motor circuit when it is desired to open the door and to close the door.

In order to prevent the operator from starting the elevator car when the door at which the car is standing isopen, or partly open, I arrange a switch V in the pent house so as to control the electric circuit of the mechanism that is used for operating the elevator car and govern'said switch by a device WV which is controlled by the doors of the elevator shaft in such a way that said switch V will be maintained in its open condition whenever one or the other of the doors of the elevator shaft is open or partly open. This can be accomplished in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore, in Figure 3 I-l1ave illustrated diagrammatically one Way of preventing the elevator car from being started unless all of the doors of the elevator shaft are'in a closed position. In said figure, 1V designates a weight or the like connected to one end of a cable 18 that passes over a pulley 19 in the pent house and which passes downwardly through arms or other suitable devices 20 on the bottom sections C of the various doors, said cable being provided with stops or buttons 21 arranged underneath the arms 20 and having a counterbalance W connected to the lower end of same. When any one of the doors of the elevator shaft moves into its open position the arm 20 on the bottom section G of that particular door engages the stop or button 21 with which it oooperates, and thus moves the cable 18 in a direction to cause the weight lVtoinove out of engagement with the switch V, and thus open the electric circuit that controls the operation of the elevator cage,'said weight or device W remaining out of engagement with the switch V, and thus maintaining said controlling circuit in its open condition until the door is restored to its fully closed position. .The counterbalance N is arranged adjacent the bo t m o the ele at shaft, and consequently, it takes up the slack in the cable 18 which extends through the arms 20 on all of the doors of the shaft.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An operating mechanism for elevator shaft doors, comprising a vertically disposed housing or guideway mounted on an elevator car, a manually operated means for moving said housing towardsand away from a door that is to he opened, a door operating device reciprocatingly mounted in said housing and adapted to engage the door when the housing is in its extendedposition, and a means for reciprocating saiddevice in said housing to open and close the door.

2. An operating mechanismfor elevator shaft doors, comprising a housing or guideway arranged vertically on an levator car at the front side of same, a 1nanually-operahle means for moving said housing towards and away from a door that is to be opened, a door operating device reciprocatingly 'IIIOUDtGCl in said housing and adapted to engage a part on the door when the housing is in its extended position, and a friction driven means on the elevator car for moving said device upwardly in said housing so as to open the door.

3. An operating mechanism for elevator shaft doors, comprising a vertically-disposed housing or guideway, a stationary supporting structure on an elevator car on which said housing is normally mounted, a manually-operable means for moving said hous-.

ing towards and'away from the door at which the elevator car is standing, co-operating means on said housing and supporting structure for guiding the housing and limiting the movement of same, and a reciprocat ing door operating device in said housing that is interlocked with the door when the housing is in its extended position.

at. A mechanism for operating elevator shaft doors, comprising a vertically-disposed housing or guideway mounted on an elevator car at the front side of same, a reciprocating door operating device in said housing, a supporting structure on the elevator car, levers on said supporting structure that carry said housing, and means for actuating said levers so as to move said housing in a direction to cause the door operating device therein to engage the door that is to be opened.

5. A mechanism for operating elevator shaft doors, comprising a vertically-disposed housing or guidewa-y mounted on an elevator carat the front side of same, a reciprocating door operating device in said housing, levers that carry said housing, a manually-operable means for actuating said levers so as to move said housing in a direction to cause the door operating device therein to engage the door that is to be opened, and a tripping device that operates automatical- 1y when said door operating device returns to its normal position, to restore said manually-operablenieans to normal position.

HERMAN C. VVALDMAN. 

